Drinking vessels



Aug.. 11, 1959 J. P. GlTs DRINKING VESSELS Filed sept. @1955 INVENToR. JULE 5 E 6/ TJ ATTYI United States Patent O DRINKING VESSELS:

Jules P. Gits, Chicago, Ill., assignor of one-half to Joseph A. Gits, Chicago, Ill.

Application September 6, 1955, Serial No; 532,662'

3 Claims. (Cl. 220-15) This invention relates to improvements in drinking Vessels. More particularly, this invention relates to improvements in dual shell drinking vessels.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved dual shell drinking vessel.

Drinking vessels are customarily made from materials which are resistant to the action of potables; and those vessels are customarily made thin to make them light in weight. The resulting thin walls of those drinking vessels will readily interchange heat with the air surrounding those vessels, and the resulting thin bottoms of those vessels will readily interchange heat with the objects on which those vessels are set; and hence it is desirable to provide those vessels with an outer wall or shell. That outer wall or shell will coact with the wall or shell of the drinking vessel to dene an air space; and that air space will act to retard the flow of heat into and out of the innermost shell of the vessel. Where the contents of the dual shell vessel are hot, that dead air space will tend to retard the flow of heat outwardly from the inner shell to the outer shell and thence to the atmosphere and to the surface on which the outer shell rests. Where the contents of the vessel are cold, that dead air space will resist the ow of heat inwardly from the outer shell to the inner shell and thence to the contents of the vessel.

To be fully effective and to be acceptable, the drinking vessel must be made so the inner and outer shells thereof are readily separable, and yet those shells must be capable of resisting accidental separation. The ready separability is needed to facilitate the washing of the shells so they can be kept clean andsanitary; and the resistance to accidental separation is needed to enable the vessel to be handled as a unit. Thus, the resistance to accidental separation is needed to keep the vessel from coming apart as the user raises it to drink from it or lowers it after drinking from it.

Unfortunately the factors tending to provide ready separability are the same factors that tend' to permit accidental separation. Accordingly it is not a simple matter to make a dual shell drinking vessel that is resistant to accidental separation While also being readily separable. Particularly is this true where the drinking vessel is made of plastic material, because that material is not always dimensionally stable. Thus, the two shells of the drinking vessel may experience non-uniform shrinking as they cool down after the molding operation` It would be both desirable and important toprovide a dual shell` drinking vessel that was readily separable and that could resist accidental separation despite dimensional variations due to non-uniform shrinking during cooling. The present invention provides such a drinking vessel; and it is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a dual shell drinking vessel that is readily separable but that resists accidental separation despite non-uniform shrinking during cooling.

The present invention attains this result by forming one of the shells so it can experience both outward and in- 2,899,098 Patented Aug. 1 l, 1959 ICC ward local distortion, and by forming the other of those perience both outward and inwardk local distortion and tof form the other of those shells so it causes that distortion.

The present invention attains the desired local distortion of the one shell by providing a number of perimetrically spaced bearing surfaces that are disposed in the air space between the inner and outer shells. Those bearing surfaces are thick enough to force certain portions one one of those shells to move away from registrable portions of the other of those shells, thereby providing the required distort-ion. The distorted shell will tendto restore itself, and the'restorative forces will create holding forces between the shells; thereby preventing accidental-separation of the two shells. The bearing surfaces- Will be narrow and they will have smooth surfaces; thereby enabling a iirm pull to assure full separation of the inner and outer shells whenever it is desired to clean those shells. It is therefore an object of the present invention `to provide a dual shell drinking vessel with perimetrically spaced bearing surfaces that are disposed in the air space between the inner and outer shells to locally distort one of those shells whenever the two shells are assembled together.

The bearing surfaces are spaced away from the closed bottoms of the shells, and they are preferably adjacent the open endsA of those shells. This is important since the portions of the shells adjacent the bottoms of those shells cannot distort freely. By spacing the bearing surfaces from the closed bottoms of the shells the present invention confines the local distortion of the shells to those portions of the shells which can yield readily, and it thereby avoids the creation` of undue stresses in the shells.

It is desirable that the other of the shells of the dual shell drinking vessel be stiff so that the local distortion is dominantly limited to the said one shell. In this way, the overall configuration of the drinking vessel can be held to a predictable conguration. The present invention largely limits the required local distortion to the said one shell of thevessel by providing the other shell with'a stiifening section. It is therefore an object of the present invention to make the other shell of a dual shelldrinking vessel with a stiening portion that is resistant to distortion while` making the said one shell capable of local distortion.

Other and further objects and advantages of the present invention should become apparent from.` an examination ofthe drawing and accompanying description.

In the drawing and accompanying description a pre-V view, on a larger scale, of the dua-lshell drinking vvessel of Fig. 1,.V

Fig. 3 is a sectional plan View of a portionr ofthe dual shell drinking vessel of Figs. 1 and 2, and it is taken along the plane indicated by the line 3 3 in Fig. 2,

Fig. 4 is a sectional plan view of another portion of the dual shell drinking vessel of Figs. 1 and 2, and it is taken along the plane indicated by the line 4 4 in Fig.

2, and

Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view, on the said enlarged scale, of the dual shell drinking vessel of Figs. 1 and 2, and it is taken along the plane indicated by the line 5-5 in Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawing in detail, the numeral denotes the inner shell of one form of dual shell drinking vessel provided by the present invention. That inner shell is preferably formed of a plastic material which is nonreactive to potables to be placed in that shell; The shell 10 has an open top, imperforate sides, and a closed bottom. The sides of that shell are dominantly frusto-conical in configuration; but those sides have a short generally cylindrical portion 12. That portion is located well above the vertical midpoint of the shell 10; being just a short distance below the open top of that shell. An outwardly projecting shoulder 14 is formed at the upper end of the generally cylindrical section 12, and that shoulder projects radially outwardly beyond the section 12. Intermediate the flange 14 and the top of the shell 10 is a thick stiifening ring 15; and the upper edge of that ring is a smoothly rounded lip 16. That smoothly rounded lip can engage the mouth of the user without any unpleasant sensation. The stiffening ring 15 has a frusto-conical exterior; and the large diameter end of that ring is adjacent the large diameter end of the frusto-conical sides of the shell 10, being separated from that end by the cylindrical section 12 and the shoulder 14.

A number of bearing surfaces 18 are formed on the exterior of the inner shell 10. In the preferred embodiment shown, those bearing surfaces are elongated ribs; and they extend downwardly from the shoulder 14. The ribs are quite narrow, and have short radii, at their lower ends; but they widen out, and have longer radii, at their upper ends. Those ribs are convex throughout their lengths. The lowermost portions of the ribs 18 are tapered as at 21.

The numeral 22 denotes the outer shell of the dual shell drinking vessel provided by the present invention, and that shell has an open top, imperforate sides, and a closed bottom. The sides of the outer shell are frusto-conical in configuration; and the upper ends of those sides terminate in a squared-olf surface 24.

The inner surfaces of the sides of the outer shell 22 are spaced outwardly from the outer surfaces of the sides of the inner shell 10 to define a dead air space between them. The longitudinally extending bearing surfaces 18 are disposed in that air space; and they hold the inner and outer shells in spaced relation to maintain that dead air space. l

The bearing surfaces 18 define a generally frusto-conical area which is larger than the frusto-conical area defined by the inner surfaces of the sides of the outer shell 22. Consequently, to telescope over the bearing surfaces 18, the upper end of the outer shell 22 must distort local-V ly. During that distortion the portions of that upper end between the bearing surfaces 18 will assume a curvature based upon a radius that is larger than the undistorted radius of that upper end; and during that distortion the portions of that upper end in register with those bearing surfaces will assume a curvature based upon a radius that is smaller than the undistorted radius of that upper end. In effect, the portions of the upper end of the outer shell 22 between the bearing surfaces 18 atten to provide the increased diameters at the portions of that upper end of the outer shell 22 which are in register with and receive the bearing surfaces 18. This local distortion of the upper end of the outer shell 22 enables that outer shell to telescope over the bearing surfaces on the sides of the inner shell 10.

The upper end of the outer shell 10 of the drinking vessel will tend to restore itself to its undistorted condition; and the restorative forces of that upper end will provide ample resistance to accidental separation of the inner and outer shells. However, those restorative forces are applied to the smoothly rounded and narrow bearing surfaces 18; and the resulting areas of contact are so small that a firm pull is able to separate the two shells.

The ring 15 of the inner shell 10 and the section 12 of increased thickness stilfen the upper end of the inner shell 16 and hold it against local distortion. As a result, the interior of the dual shell drinking vessel has the appearance of a perfectly frusto-conical drinking vessel when the two shells are telescoped together; even though the upper end of the outer shell 22 is locally distorted. This is desirable since it retains the attractive configuration that is given to the inner shell when that shell is molded. When the two shells are telescoped together, the squaredoff surface 24 of the outer shell 10 will abut the shoulder 1-4 on the inner shell 10. During the telescoping of the inner shell 10 within the outer shell 22, the tapered lower ends of the bearing surfaces 18 will help make the shells concentric.

If desired, the bearing surfaces 18 could be formed on the outer shell 22. In such event, the tapered portions would be provided at the upper ends of those bearing surfaces instead of at the lower ends of those surfaces. The tapered upper ends of the bearing surfaces would engage the lower portions of the sides of the inner shell 10 and guide that shell into concentric relation with the outer shell. The sections of the outer shell between the bearing surfaces 18 would again locally distort to provide the configurations needed to assure the snug t between the inner and outer shells. If desired, the inner shell 10 could be made locally distortable and the outer shell could be made resistant to distortion.

Whereas the drawing and accompanying description have shown and described a preferred embodiment of the present invention, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes may be made in the form of the invention without affecting the scope thereof.

What I claim is:

1. A double-wall container for liquids comprising inner and outer shells spaced from each other to provide an air space therebetween, said inner shell having a peripheral shoulder spaced downwardly from its upper edge adapted to abut the upper edge of the outer shell to limit downward movement of said inner shell with respect to said outer shell, facing surfaces of the spaced shells being frusto-conical, one of said shells being substantially inextensible but being readily bendable, said other shell being substantially inextensible and being resstant to bending, one of said shells having a plurality of vertically extending elongated ribs peripherally spaced thereon extending toward said other shell, the bearing surfaces of said ribs defining a generally frusto-conical area that has a radius which is larger than the radius of the undistorted frusto-conical area of the opposed surface of the other shell whereby assembly of the shells will cause distortion of the bendable shell to prevent accidental separation of said shells.

2. A double-wall container for liquids comprising inner and outer shells spaced from each other to provide an air space therebetween, said inner shell having a peripheral shoulder spaced downwardly from its upper edge adapted to abut the upper edge of the outer shell to limit downward movement of said inner shell with respect to said outer shell, the facing surfaces of the spaced shells being fnusto-conical, said outer shell being substantially inextensible but being readily bendable, said inner shell being substantially inextensible and being resistant to bending, said inner shell having a plurality of vertically extending elongated ribs peripherally spaced thereon extending toward said outer shell, the bearing surfaces of said ribs defining a generally frusta-conical area that has U a radius which is larger than the radius of the undistorted frusto-conical area of the opposed surface of the outer shell, whereby assembly of the shells Will cause distortion of the outer shell to prevent accidental separation of said shells.

3. A double-Wall container for liquids comprising inner and outer shells spaced from each other to provide an air space therebetween, said inner shell having a peripheral shoulder spaced downwardly from its upper edge adapted to abut the upper edge of the outer shell to limit downward movement of said inner shell with respect to said outer shell, the facing surfaces of the spaced shells being truste-conical, said outer shell being substantially inextensible but being readily bendable, said inner shell being substantially inextensible and being resistant to bending, said inner shell having a plurality of vertically extending elongated ribs peripherally spaced thereon extending toward said outer shell, the edges of said vertically extending ribs being smoothly rounded References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 150,832 Crane May 12, 1874 1,131,650 Alexander Mar. 16, 1915 2,076,549 Conner Apr. 13, 1937 2,526,165 Smith Oct. 17, 1950 2,591,578 McNealy Apr. 1, 1952 2,715,326 Gits Aug. 16, 1955 2,721,595 Nichols Oct. 25, 1955 

